James Cameron wants to direct The Last Train From Hiroshima before Avatar 4, says it’s as ‘timely as ever’

James Cameron, who is riding high with the success of his sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, has shared that he wants to direct a pet project, The Last Train From Hiroshima, before the fourth film in the franchise comes out. Avatar: The Way of Water recently overtook James’s other film Titanic (1997) as the third-highest grossing movie worldwide. (Also read: Avatar 5 will be set on Earth, Oona Chaplin is new Na’vi leader in third film: Producer Jon Landau)

The director has now become the only man who has three films that have made over $2 billion at the global box office. He can literally make any film that he wants to and continuing the Avatar films would keep adding to its profits. But the filmmaker is keen to adapt the book, The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, by author Charles R Pellegrino. James has also spoken to the late Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who was the only known survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

Speaking to The Los Angeles Times, the filmmaker felt it was necessary to make the film, especially with the war in Ukraine and resurgent nationalism in the US. He told the newspaper, “We live in a more precarious world than we thought we did. I think the Hiroshima film would be as timely as ever, if not more so. It reminds people what these weapons really do when they’re used against human targets.”

The director also shared that all his films are made for the big screen. Last month’s Golden Globes, he had told the Independent, “Enough of the streaming already. I’m tired of sitting on my ass.”

Titanic was recently re-released in theatres this month around the world. Avatar: The Way of Water has earned $2.2433 billion globally, while Titanic has made $2.2428 billion. The first Avatar film (2009) sits in the top spot at the global box office with $2.92 billion, while Avengers: Endgame has earned $2.7 billion.

Avatar 3, which has already completed filming, will release in theatres on December 20, 2024. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang are expected to return for the next few films. The filmmaker had shared that the next film would focus on a new Na’vi tribe, called the ‘Ash people’, who would become antagonists of the film.